Plural Society in Peril: Migration, Economic Change, and the Papua Conflict

This study examines the ways in which large-scale migration and rapid economic change have fueled separatism and ethnic conflict in Papua. It presents an analysis of recent census data showing that three quarters of a million migrants from other parts of Indonesia have resettled in the territory since 1970 either through official transmigration programs or as unsponsored economic migrants. The study illustrates how rapid modernization and demographic change have resulted in displacement and dislocation, provoking Papuan resentment and demands for independence. It also makes recommendations with the common theme being the need for the respective parties to work towards improving governance in the province as a precondition to redressing core grievances driving the conflict.
          
           Published by East-West Center Washington. Available exclusively from ISEAS for distribution in Asia.